The Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration is not investigating a mysterious odor in Fanny Allen hospital that caused more than a dozen employees to fall ill, and the brief closure of an operating room.
In total, 17 doctors, nurses and staff members reported feeling “sick to their stomach” after noticing “the smell of exhaust, or something that smelled like fumes,” according to Dawn LeBaron, University of Vermont Medical Center’s vice president for hospital services. All the affected staff members sought medical treatment at the urgent care center on site.
Stephen Monahan, director of workers’ compensation and safety division at VOSHA, said the office is aware of the incident because UVMMC self-reported to the department, “even though technically they were not required to do so.”
“We did not open an investigation because, from the information we had, it seemed likely by the time we got there, there wouldn’t be anything to test for,” Monahan said.
UVMMC administrators say they don’t know what caused the odor. The Colchester Fire Department was called in to respond and found “no detectable readings of carbon monoxide,” LeBaron said, adding that a universal air system in the building was checked and filters were changed, but again nothing was out of the ordinary.
Hospital staff “immediately” installed real-time carbon monoxide detectors in all the operating rooms and the control room, she said. The hospital has since hired a third party consultant to investigate the cause.
Monahan said the hospital was not required to hire the consultant, though it might have been if VOSHA opened an investigation. UVMMC is not required to notify the state when its investigation is complete.
Monahan called UVMMC’s response to the incident “appropriate in VOSHA’s opinion.”
Vermont state laws regarding workplace injuries and illnesses — as with relevant federal laws — require employers to report an employee death within eight hours. Amputation, in-patient hospitalization or loss of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.
Because the staff members affected by the odor at Fanny Allen were not technically checked into a hospital, Monahan said VOSHA is not compelled to investigate.
Additionally, VOSHA has not received any employee complaints about the incident, which Monahan said “may or may not” warrant a response from the agency.
In his 14 years as a director at VOSHA , Monahan said he hasn’t seen an incident like illnesses at Fanny Allen occur in Vermont, but said it’s “not uncommon to receive air quality complaints.”
If VOSHA were to become involved, Monahan said employers could be hit with penalties, the severity of which depends on which standards or laws may have been violated.
VOSHA has a whistleblower protection program for any employee who files a complaint or workplace injury report with the agency.
Monahan does not have any further information on what may have caused the odor or why staff felt sick.
Arleen Levinson of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, the union that represents nurses and other staff at UVMMC, declined to comment on the illnesses or lack of VOSHA response.
She said no union members have raised any concerns with union leadership, meaning it has little information on what happened or reason to raise alarm.
